Football: Greenwood Beats Parkview, Loses Burgess, Smith

By Eric W. BolinSpecial to the Democrat

Monday

Oct 7, 2013 at 8:17 AMOct 9, 2013 at 7:31 AM

Seven-touchdown shutouts aren’t supposed to feel so negative.

The mood was rather sour in Greenwood on Friday, though, after the Bulldogs lost starting running back Hoyt Smith, defensive lineman Nick Kleinschmidt and starting quarterback Jabe Burgess to injuries.

The 42-0 final score was something of an afterthought, even in extending the nation’s third-longest winning streak to 43 games.

Burgess left on Greenwood’s second drive of the third quarter when he was tackled on 3-yard scramble near the sideline. He was motionless on the field for about a minute and was on the field another four minutes before leaving on his own power.

There was no noticeable limp to indicate a lower body injury and he spent the next couple of plays being examined by doctors on the Greenwood (5-0, 2-0 7A/6A Central) sideline before being carted away from the field.

Greenwood coach Rick Jones didn’t speculate on what he thought the injury may be or how long Burgess would be out of the lineup.

"Quarterbacks have to pull it down sometimes and run. We practice scramble drill all the time, but we have to get guys loose, get guys open during scramble drills," Jones said. "I told Jabe to keep it alive. That’s what he was trying to do. Eventually he just took off and they caught him. It was a good hard hit and we’ll see what happens."

Burgess was 13-of-20 passing for 178 yards with two interceptions when he was hurt.

Smith scored Greenwood’s first two touchdowns on the team’s first two possessions in a game that was never in doubt. He left the game on the third possession after catching a pass in the flat for a first down that eventually led to another Bulldogs touchdown.

Jones motioned to his hip area when he said Smith’s injury was "somewhere on the back of his body."

Sophomore Jordan Green saw the majority of carries after Smith left and finished with 63 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushes. Reid Wheeler replaced Burgess for two series and completed 1-of-5 passes before being relived by Kyler Watson on Greenwood’s final drive.

Parkview (1-4, 0-2) put together a 75-yard drive in the final five minutes before time expired as the Patriots were stopped on the 3. It was the closest they came to scoring. That series accounted for three of their 10 first downs and nearly 40 percent of their total offense for the entire game.

"Our defense got after those guys pretty good," Jones said. "Our defensive coaches had them schemed up pretty well and we had a pretty good idea what they were going to do."

Five of Greenwood’s 12 drives started in Parkview territory. Another three came within 5 yards of the 50-yard line. The best came when Parkview quarterback Lawrence Berry was sacked and fumbled on the Patriots 3. Greenwood needed one play — a 3-yard run from Brett Calhoun — to score.

Burgess missed fall practice and Greenwood’s season opener recuperating from a foot injury. Wheeler started in his place in Week 1 against Sallisaw and threw for four touchdowns in a 49-3 win.

Jones isn’t sure whether it’ll be Burgess or Wheeler as the starter next week in Little Rock against Catholic.

"Whoever is next has to be ready," Jones said. "That’s just the way it is."